January 3, 2011

Toshiba To Unveil New Tablet During CES

Toshiba Corp is stepping into the tablet market by offering a new device with a screen slightly larger than Apple's iPad.

The device will include a touch screen that measures 10.1 inches and will also have the forthcoming version of Android, known as Honeycomb.

It will be more optimized for tablets by allowing applications to adjust to take advantage of the tablet's larger screen.

Toshiba is set to unveil the tablet at the annual International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week.

The tablet will not be the company's first, but it will be the first time Toshiba is releasing a product like this in the U.S.

The company is expected to roll the new device out at the end of June with a price comparable to the iPad.

Phil Osako, Toshiba's director of product marketing, told the Associated Press (AP) that the device will be the first in a family of tablets the company plans to release.

It has a screen that will be able to show high-definition videos in 1080p resolution and will include an HDMI port to connect it to a high-definition television.

Google's mobile head, Andy Rubin, said at a December conference that the company's Honeycomb will enable applications to have multiple views and present information differently depending on whether they are running on a phone or a tablet.

The device will have an Nvidia Tegra 2 mobile processor and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera for video chatting and a 5-megapixel rear camera.

Osako said that it will include Wi-Fi for getting online but will not initially have the capability to access wireless carriers' data networks.

The device will also be equipped with GPS and Bluetooth technologies and will include a USB port, mini USB port and SD memory card slot.